This neighbourhood area is located on the eastern edge of Preston, bordering Wembley to the south and Kingsbury to the north (roughly separated by Wealdstone Brook and the Jubilee line tracks. The area is slightly hilly, with the highest point of what is known as Barn Hill being in Fryent Country Park, which makes up a huge chunk of the area’s green and open space. Interwar semi-detached housing dominates the area, mostly basic in design but with many in mock-Tudor styles along regular streets. The main commercial centre is to the southwest next to Wembley Park underground station, which is where the Asda Superstore is located, alongside Ark Academy and Lycee International de Londres Winston Churchill, a French school. Overall, this area is a typical suburban neighbourhood, albeit exceptionally green, owing to Fryent Country Park. The River Brent also divides it from Neasden to the south, and Brent Reservoir is nearby. The area is also extremely accessible, owing to the Jubilee line station at Wembley Park. The hillside setting of this area makes it highly desirable for inner city commuters.

The name Barn Hill dates back to at least 1547, when it was known as Bardon Hill. The area only saw significant development, however, when it formed part of the Uxendon estate, owned by the Page family. The family would hire Humphry Repton, a famous landscape designer, to remodel the area as part of a new development known as ‘Wembley Park’. Part of the hill would later be turned into a golf course, before being bought for development by Haymills in the 1920s, when the area started to take on its current character.

John Chalkhill may have lived in the area when he was young, being the son of Eyan Chalkhill, who was said to own a tenement or house in the area. John Chalkhill was an English poet, born in 1595, whose works included Thealma and Clearchus (published posthumously), as well as two songs which are included in Izaak Walton’s Compleat Angler. Chalkhill’s life is little known however, and some speculate that the name is a pen name for another author. However, it is suggested that this person studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was buried at St. Margaret’s, Westminster.

Fryent Country Park has over 100 hectares of meadows, woods and ponds. With more than 800 species of wildlife, including 80 recorded birds and 21 types of butterflies. The area is an oasis of biodiversity in the middle of London. The Roe Green Walled Garden in the park has a range of educational exhibits, and is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10:30 to 14:30.

The Lycee International de Londres Winston Churchill School is on the site of the former Brent Town Hall, a Grade-II listed Art Deco building, bought from Brent Council by the French Education Property Trust I 2012. The school offers bilingual education in English and French.

Wembley Stadium represents a major disruption to travel in the area when there is a match or event on. Congestion, from tube trains to roads occur throughout the area – though arguably this area is more isolated from this, being, as it were, on the opposite side of the tracks. Thus, only the nearby areas are negatively affected by these crowds. Even so, the area benefits from the expanded transportation links which serve Wembley Stadium, as well as the shopping facilities nearby. Another huge benefit is the Fryent Country Park, which is further away from Wembley and sees little by the way of tourists.

This neighbourhood is particularly well-preserved by the Barn Hill Conservation Group, which aims to preserve the natural as well as the heritage value of the Barn Hill area – including its hillside setting and large open spaces. Across the railway tracks, the story is far different – the 85-acre Wembley Park development is well underway, and with 10.3 million square feet of mixed development it is one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects. 3,000 homes have already been completed, and it is the largest single-site purpose-built Build to Rent development anywhere in the UK, with an additional 5,500 homes still to be built. The project has already brought new community hubs, entertainment venues like Boxpark, art installations and open spaces, including the new 7 acre Union Park. With over £2.5bn already invested in the area, there’s much more slated to come, with the Quintain-led development scheduled to complete in 2027, bringing with it over 8,000 new jobs.